Wagner: Fantasia for Piano in F sharp minor, WWV 22 (1/2)

Wagner is a name that kindles the most contradictory feelings, except indifference. The creator of 'Musical Drama', also named by himself  'total work of art' (Gesamtkunstwerk), Wagner settled the grounds for the dissolution of the tonal harmonic system.

Wilhelm Richard Wagner (1813-1883) was a Post-Romantic German composer and conductor, apart from acting as a theatre director and political activist. He is best known for his operatic work, but composed a few piano pieces, which included a number of piano sonatas.

His style is notable for the use of complex texture and harmonies, and the use of leitmotifs (themes linked to individual characters, places or plots). Furthermore, extreme and constant use of chromaticism and quickly shifting tonal centres are also remarkable characteristics of Wagner's music.

Later in life, Wagner's work evolved towards the exploration of emotional expression, introducing new concepts of harmony, melodic process (leitmotif) and operatic structure. Exploring the boundaries of orthodox tonal system - which gave keys and chords their identity- , he pointed the way to atonality in the XX century. 

The piece under analysis today is the compelling Fantasia for Piano in F sharp minor WWV 22, 1 mvmt. Notice Wagner's unusual use of ornaments, extreme chromaticisms (observe their use in whole stretches of the piece) and the resort to weighty basses for a great dramatic effect. Enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mTxHyHo37QY&feature=relmfu